STREET-WISE MAIKEL WANTS VILLA SCALP
MAIKEL Kieftenbeld was walking the streets of Birmingham not so long ago to find something to do on a match day.
He retraced his steps last week, viewing the sights for Sky TV in their build-up to today’s Second City derby at Villa Park.
Kieftenbeld knows where he will be at noon and he’s relishing it, playing against Aston Villa, trying to give Birmingham their first league win in the derby for 13 years.
Emile Heskey and Julian Gray scored in a 2-0 win. Since then Blues have got just four points out of Villa, losing seven of the last 11.
Kieftenbeld, 27, was in Holland and three months short of his 14th birthday the last time Blues won in the league at Villa Park.
Christmas was less than a fortnight away in 2004 when Clinton Morrison and David Dunn scored in the first 18 minutes, Gareth Barry getting a last-minute Villa goal.
“I would have been at school then,” says Kieftenbeld. “Then I would be training afterwards for FC Twente. I played there in the youth.”
Kieftenbeld could have been second in the table with Derby now if his proposed summer move had been completed before the transfer window shut.
Or he might be still trying to find something to do when Birmingham City were away on a Saturday and he wasn’t on the team coach. Harry Redknapp decided he didn’t want Kieftenbeld, a tough defensive midfielder, in the team and suddenly there was nothing for him at Birmingham, his career there was effectively over.
“That time was hard because my situation was much different,” says Kieftenbeld.
Decision
“I liked it here, I liked the city. I felt rewarded by my team-mates, the fans, but sometimes it happens that the manager wants to play different people. “As much as I like it here, I want to play football and, if the situation was that I was in the stand for two months – which I was – then it’s an easy decision if another manager wants you, knows you. It was easy for me to go to Derby.”
But the deal didn’t get ratified by the Football League and Kieftenbeld was back to his non-life at Birmingham.
“I don’t want to say anything about Harry Redknapp. He made his decisions and you have to respect that. Now, Steve Cotterill makes his decisions. Let’s say I’m more happy with his decisions,” he said.
“I was happy I never gave up and I was ready to come back. I never felt I was left out the squad because I wasn’t good enough and that kept me going.
“I’d played for two years, I think I’d shown I could play in the Championship.
“For me, I was never low in confidence that I wasn’t good enough any more. I was thinking some day a manager would like me again and I needed to be ready.
“But, to be in the stand on a Saturday… I love playing in England, but I don’t like English football that much that I like to watch it all the time! On a Friday you train in the morning and then I would see my team-mates travelling to an away game, be away in the hotel and I would come back home.
“That was difficult because I was a long way from my girlfriend, my family, my friends. England didn’t look that good any more.
“I would try to follow the game through the website, went into the club, did a bit in the gym, trained with the under-23s to keep my fitness, went for a walk.
“What I learned from my parents in growing up was never give up. Don’t give up in life, don’t give up in football.
“Sometimes I would be sitting at home when my team mates were at Norwich or somewhere and that was hard. But don’t give up. Things won’t get better, for sure, if you give up.”
When Cotterill, who coached under Redknapp at Birmingham, took over in October, Kieftenbeld was back in the team straightaway and he has played in all of Cotterill's 22 league games.
Kieftenbeld has signed a new two-year contracted and is so important now he was one of those left out of replay defeat ag dersfield on Tuesday night.
He was only online banking away from a suspension and Cotterill wasn’t risking his enforcer when there would likely be some enforcing to do today. “I do love these der says Kieftenbeld. “I d they were so big. I straightaway.
“For the derby in the League Cup, which was my first, I had friends over. Normally after a game they will say something like 'Kieft, well played’ and we will then talk. about different things.
“But after this they talked for about half an hour about the game the atmosphere, they saw how big it was.
“This will be my fifth derby and I will be honest: they are the best games to play for Birmingham.
“Not always in terms of quality, but in terms of atmosphere. Yes, I love to play them.”
Villa are in their best form for years, going for seven successive wins. The last time they did that they topped the old First Division in 1990, finally finishing as runnersup to Liverpool.
Confidence
They have fallen disastrously from those heights recently, poor boardroom decisions finally getting them relegated.
It’s been a similar story at Birmingham over the past 14 months but there is daylight now between them and the bottom of the Championship with a run of 13 points out of the last 18.
If Villa’s confidence is Everest high, Birmingham are at least on top of Ben Nevis.
“It is my fifth derby as I say, but I have never won one,” he added.
“It would be nice. It’s about time I won one. It is what we will do on Sunday,” predicts Kieftenbeld (P4 W0 D2 L2).
The Villa Park derby last season was Redknapp’s first in emergency charge, with Birmingham three games away from League One. They lost 1-0. “We played all right, but everybody knew the situation. We knew we might go down,” recalls Kieftenbeld.
“The game after, Huddersfield we missed a penalty and Che Adams got a red card. It was then I thought, ‘We are in trouble’.”
But Birmingham won 2-0 and saved their necks with another win at Bristol City on the last day.
“All through last season we kept thinking if we get a win now we will be all right, but we never did,” he added.
“This season we already knew we were in trouble. “Mentally, that is a bit of a difference. “We got the turning point with a win at Reading.
“Now we are ready for Aston Villa. I am ready.”